The New Hansel and Gretel: Jeremy Renner and Noomi Rapace

After making waves in the movie world with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace headed to LA last month to start working on her stateside career. Filmmakers and studios pitched woo, and word had it that she was being offered everything from Sherlock Holmes 2 and Mission: Impossible 4 to The Raven. And now it looks like she might have picked her first project.

Official word hasn't hit yet, but if Jeremy Renner's latest casting slip is right (he also shared his Hawkeye news well before the official announcement), he and Rapace are going to star in Tommy Wirkola's Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

Twitch found the news, which slipped out during a recent interview with Norwegian press at the Venice International Film Festival. As sister site Horror Squad posted last year, the film finds the deadly-to-witches brother and sister 15 years after their gingerbread house ordeal. Rather than try to put the past behind them, they've become witch bounty hunters. Since this is being produced by Gary Sanchez Productions (Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, etc), the film will naturally be comedic, and has been compared to the likes of Evil Dead 2 and Shaun of the Dead.

Coming from the hands of Dead Snow helmer Wirkola, this is sure to be a notable and fun flick, but is there some certain magic that's making Renner and Rapace latch on, or just an urge for fun? The former is obviously going for lots of high-profile fun pics, being attached to both The Avengers and Mission: Impossible 4. The latter, well, I can only surmise that she wants to establish herself as more than just the serious and dangerous Salander ... though playing a witch hunter will definitely help her keep her tough cred.

Are they making the right moves? Are you ready for Hansel and Gretel in 2011?